Israel Launches Airstrikes on Tehran During Persian New Year Amid Escalating Mideast Conflict Israel conducted airstrikes on Tehran on Friday, marking the Persian New Year, as the conflict in the Middle East intensified and disrupted global energy markets. The attacks followed Iran’s escalation of attacks on Gulf Arab energy infrastructure, including Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and a Kuwaiti oil refinery, which had already been targeted in previous strikes. The violence has raised fears of a broader regional war, with Iran’s retaliation driving up global fuel prices and prompting Gulf allies to call for U.S. intervention. The strikes on Tehran came a day after Israel announced it would halt further attacks on Iran’s South Pars gas field, a critical energy resource. However, Iran responded by intensifying its attacks on Gulf energy sites, including Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea refinery and Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility. The damage to Qatar’s facility, which is a major supplier of natural gas, reduced exports by 17% and could cost billions in lost revenue annually. Repairs are expected to take up to five years, according to officials. The conflict has also disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil transport. Iranian drones and missiles have targeted vessels in the region, with at least two ships set ablaze off the UAE and Qatar. Efforts to bypass the strait via alternative routes, such as Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port, have also faced attacks, including a drone strike on a Saudi refinery. Global energy prices have surged as a result of the escalating violence. Brent crude oil prices briefly exceeded $119 a barrel, a 60% increase since the war began, while European natural gas prices have more than doubled in the past month. The U.N.#iran #israel #qatar #tehran #kwait
The grim choice facing the Trump administration: Economic or naval collapse? The Trump administration is currently trapped between the specter of a global economic recession and a naval catastrophe. As the conflict with Iran intensifies, the world’s energy arteries are constricting to a point of “nonlinearity,” where every day the Strait of Hormuz remains closed doesn’t just double the economic pain—it multiplies it exponentially. The administration is working to resolve the oil crisis on several fronts: It’s scrambling to organize a complex military operation to restart the flow of oil tankers through the strait while determining ways to alleviate prices by taking action in the markets. It also launched a PR campaign to assure the public that any pain at the pump is likely to be short term. Yet inside the Pentagon and the West Wing, the math is becoming grim. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, has surged past $100 a barrel. The lack of oil flowing through the global market has slowed production to a crawl and is rapidly approaching the tipping point where major producers shut it down altogether due to storage constraints. Kuwait, Iraq, and the UAE are shutting off wells as storage tanks overflow. Once these wells go dark, they cannot simply be flipped back on, creating a looming supply crater that would create a cascading effect on the global economy. Workers walk across pipelines at the Rumaila oil field. “These kinds of market conditions, if they last or get worse, are going to force a reality where there’s going to have to be a reconsideration of the scale and scope of this operation,” a former senior administration official told CNN. “There is an urgent need for a near-term solution, and the White House is aware of that fact.#iran #strait_of_hormuz #trump_administration #us_navy #kwait
